


The Runaway

by fronkiethesweetbaby



Series: The Runaway [1]
Category: BLURRYFACE - Twenty One Pilots (Album), Falling in Reverse, My Chemical Romance, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: F/M, My Chemical Romance References, Post-MCR, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 09:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12274017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fronkiethesweetbaby/pseuds/fronkiethesweetbaby
Summary: I ran away from my parents' house in hopes of escaping my pain. I ran down the street, suitcase barely rolling behind me, I was exhausted, until I ran straight into a person that would change my life forever.Book 1 of the Runaway Series





	1. New City, New York

Jess.

Calm the fuck down.

You lost them now.

I tried to stay calm and think positive thoughts as I ran down the street, in the middle of nowhere.

It wasn't like this was out of the blue. I'd been planning to run away from my home for months now, with a plan to stay with my internet friend in Louisiana.

But this was the last straw.

My mom had screamed at me, telling me that I wasn't worth her time, that she shouldn't have ever adopted me in the first place, that I didn't deserve to be in this family.

So I ran upstairs to my room, chucking anything and everything I could into my tiny black suitcase, saying goodbye to my house, and dashing out of the house as fast as I could.

I heard my mom scream "Jess fucking Vanderbilt, get the hell back here right now! I will find you if you try to run away!"

No fucking chance, lady, I had a better life plan.

I ran through town to the bank atm, and took out the money in my college fund and my savings account, which totaled out to about $750,000.

My plan was succeeding so far. I checked my phone, which was flooded with messages and calls from my house phone, my mom's cell phone, my dad's cell phone, my grandparents' phone, and my internet friend.

I called Lauren back, and she picked up within two seconds, yelling to me through the phone, "How did it go? Did you get out alright?"

"Yeah. I responded, looking around. "I just got all my money out of the bank and I'm gonna head down the parkway until I get to a rest stop and then I'll try to make my plans there and maybe get a hotel room or something."

"Okay, cool. Let me know if you need anything." Lauren replied, and I smiled. I was so grateful for her. "Thanks so much, Lauren. This means a lot."

"No problem. Call me when you get to the rest stop." my friend told me. She hung up within a few seconds.

Okay, I thought as I looked up from my phone.

I walked through the other side of town to the parkway, and began to make my way down the side of the road, through the grass. There was no sidewalk.

It was around 11:00pm by the time that I was completely exhausted and I was ready to die. I had been walking consecutively for three hours, and I wasn't even close to the nearest rest stop. I guess I underestimated the distance from previous road trips with my family when I was younger.

My legs were just about dead. I sat down on the side of the road, reaching into my backpack to grab a Monster that I had packed.

I opened the Monster and took a huge gulp. It hurt my throat as the fizzy substance raced down it, getting caught. I swallowed it wrong, which resulted in Monster going up my nose, and me coughing in order to breathe.

I finally calmed from my coughing fit, wiped my mouth on my sweatshirt sleeve, and stood up, my Monster still in my hand. I took a sip of it, successfully swallowing it this time, and began to walk again. I needed to make it to this rest stop.

But I was

so tired.

My head hurt, I felt hella weak, and I was just about to collapse.

I looked up to see headlights right in my face, followed by a huge screech of brakes. I saw the car swerve to the opposite side of the road that I was on, and saw a tall, tattooed, muscular man come out of the car, marching towards me.

"Please don't call the authorities..." I trailed off as soon as he was fully in my view, and he began to scream at me.

"What in fuck's sake were you even thinking, walking on the fucking side of the road this fucking late at night, I could have fucking killed you! Are you okay?! What the fuck are you doing out here?!"

I just stayed silent. I didn't know what to say, because I was afraid he would start yelling at me again.

"Tell me what you were thinking when you wanted to walk down the road this late at night!" he screamed in my face.

"I was fucking running away, okay?!" I suddenly burst out, covering my mouth in realization of what I had just said to a complete stranger.

I broke down. I couldn't hold it in anymore. It hurt so much to think that I left all my family and friends behind.

But I was going to stay with Lauren. That was all that mattered.

"C'mere." he said simply, and I ran into his embrace, and I cried in the arms of a random stranger that almost hit me on the highway.

"What's your name?" the guy asked me, and I quietly whispered, "Jess."

"Beautiful name." the guy said to me, and I nodded a "thanks."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Ronnie. Ronnie Radke." the guy whose name was Ronnie mumbled.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Seventeen. You?"

"Sixteen." I replied.

We stood in a comfortable silence until I broke the ice.

"Please don't call the authorities, I'm going to go stay with--"

"I'm running away, too." Ronnie cut me off, and my eyes widened.

"Why?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"I could ask the same for you."

"Why don't we say our reason at the same time?" I asked.

"Sure. One, two, three."

"Family." we simultaneously said, and Ronnie gasped.

"Where are you headed?"

"The nearest hotel." I said, and Ronnie nodded.

"You passed it about three exits ago." he pointed out.

I mentally face palmed. "Fuck."

"I'm headed there as well, so why don't we just go together?" Ronnie proposed, and I slowly nodded.

I grabbed my suitcase, swung my backpack over my shoulder and followed Ronnie across the street.

We walked to his car, of which he opened the door for me, and we sped down the highway to the hotel.


	2. Old Tappan, New Jersey

We arrived at the hotel within ten minutes, and I was so grateful that I didn't have to walk much.

"You looked tired." Ronnie pointed out, and I rolled my eyes. "No shit, Sherlock. I'm dead."

We went up to the front desk. There was a cheery looking lady with brown hair and dark eye makeup whose nametag read "Marilyn."

"Hi, welcome to the Holiday Inn, room for two?"

"Yeah, two beds, smoke accessible."

"Okay, that would come out to $100 per night, we'll charge you at the end of your stay. How long are you planning to stay here?"

"About two days." Ronnie said, and Marilyn nodded.

"Breakfast is from 6am to 11am, and room service is available at your convenience. Here's your key," she handed us a key, "to room 136. Call us at the front if you need anything."

"Okay, thank you." I smiled at Marilyn, taking my suitcase and walking down the hall, Ronnie following behind me.

He opened the door and we walked in, and I set my suitcase on top of my bed, which was the one near the window. I always claim the window bed because there's always an outlet near it.

Ronnie flopped on top of his bed, on his back and exhaled really loudly.

"I'm gonna get ready to go to bed." I said, and grabbed a Blink-182 shirt with black leggings before going into the bathroom.

I put my hair up in a high ponytail, took out my contacts, removed my makeup, and changed.

I washed my face and brushed my teeth before I left the bathroom to find Ronnie fast asleep on his bed, fully clothed.

I would leave him be. He looked pretty peaceful, and he looked like he needed the sleep.

I sat down on my bed and texted my mom.

I'm safe. I'm not telling you my location, and I turned off Find My iPhone. Hope you have a nice life. Jessxo

I blocked her number after the text was signaled "delivered" and I put my headphones in, listening to We Stitch These Wounds by Black Veil Brides on repeat as I fell asleep.

^.^

I woke up to the sound of a really loud coffee machine and the smell of pancakes.

I opened my eyes to see Ronnie pouring two cups of coffee with two huge plates of food on top of the table in the middle of the room.

"Good afternoon." Ronnie smirked, coming over and sitting on my bed.

"Hi." I raised my eyebrows. "What time is it?"

"It's 1pm, I was about to pour water over you but I assumed you would kill me." Ronnie laughed a little, and I just stared at him.

"Coffee?" Ronnie asked, and I nodded. "Yes, please."

He handed me my cup of coffee and placed my plate of food ok the edge of my bed, which had pancakes, an apple, and peach yogurt.

Ronnie took his and joined me on my bed, eating quickly. I ate pretty slowly, so Ronnie was practically watching me eat.

This made me extremely uncomfortable.

"Um... Why are you staring at me?"

Ronnie looked away, blinking. "No reason, I just blanked out."

Then he blushed.

I finished my food and piled our plates on top of each other's before standing up.

"I'm gonna bring these downstairs. Are you cool staying here alone?"

"Um, I don't really like being alone, but it's okay only if it's for less than ten minutes. I sorta get scared in public. Or in a hotel." Ronnie confessed, and I laughed.

"So you're scared of abandonment?" I asked.

Ronnie looked down at his feet.

"My mom left me when I was little, and my dad didn't raise my brother and I exactly right. He sort of got abusive when he started using drugs. I left when he threatened to kill me." he said. My eyes were wide.

"Wow." was all I could say.

"Yeah. So please be back within ten minutes." Ronnie looked up at me, and I nodded.

I took our plates and walked down the hallway to the dining area, putting the plates down below the "dirty dishes" sign.

I walked back into the room, and opened the door.

"We need to get out of this hotel and do something." Ronnie was practically in my face when I got in the room.

"What do we do? We're in New Jersey and the police are probably looking for us.." I trailed off, and Ronnie rolled his eyes.

"What if we go get tattoos? Meaning you." Ronnie suggested, and my eyes widened.

"Really?"

Ronnie nodded. "Yeah. I'm covered already, so maybe you can get one."

"Okay, sure!" I smiled, and I grabbed my wallet, which was stuffed with all my cash from my bank account.

We walked out the door and drove through town to a tattoo place not too far from the hotel.

"Wait." I stopped in realization as I stopped in my tracks. "Don't I need to get something signed by someone of age?"

"Look at me, Jess. I'm seventeen and have sleeves. This guy does ink work for anyone, he doesn't care." Ronnie said, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the tattoo parlor.

"Hey, Dean." Ronnie called as we walked through the door.

A guy that had short, dirty blonde hair with green eyes and a leather jacket turned around.

"Ronnie, mah man!" Dean exclaimed, walking over and giving Ronnie a bro hug.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Dean raised his eyebrows. "Is she single?"

"Dean, you perv. This is my friend, Jess. This, Jess is my long time tattoo artist, Dean. As you can already tell." Ronnie introduced me to Dean.

"Sammy! Come meet Ronnie's girlfriend!" Dean called into the back.

"She is NOT my girlfriend!" Ronnie smacked Dean in the shoulder playfully, and Dean raised his eyebrows in a way that said "are you kidding me y'all are meant for each other."

I turned red.

A tall guy with long, dark brown hair, tanned skin and brown eyes came out of the back of the parlor, his hands full of ink packets.

He put the supplies down on a nearby table and came over to the three of us.

"So, Ronnie, this is your girlfriend?" Sam asked.

"For the last time, she is not my girlfriend!" Ronnie growled.

"Nice to see you, too." Sam said sarcastically.

"Hi, I'm Jess." I stuck out my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jess. I'm Sam." he shook my hand firmly.

"So, it's Nicola getting the ink, right? You have no room left." Dean pointed out, looking at me.

"Yeah. A batman symbol on my right forearm, a treble clef on the left side of my neck, and one on my left wrist that says 'not today'." I said, and Dean wrote it down on a pad.

"Okay, now you come with me and check out the font you want for the wrist tattoo while I do a sketch for the treble and batman." Dean said to me, and I nodded, following him to a table with a giant scrapbook.

I looked at the fonts and picked one that looked like a typewriter font.

Sam got started on my batman tattoo, which didn't hurt much at all.

My mom would kill me if she found out that I got tattoos.

Once the batman one was done, Sam moved on to the treble clef, which hurt like a bitch, but I knew the pain was worth it.

Finally, Sam got to work on my "not today" tattoo, and I got teary as he pulled the needle over my scars.

This would be a lifelong reminder to never self harm again.

Ronnie was sitting in the chair next to me, and he looked down at my wrist.

His eyes grew dark.

"How long have you been doing that for?" he asked, and I looked up at him.

"Since I was thirteen."

"Never," Ronnie ran a hand through his long hair, "ever do that again. That tattoo needs to be your reminder."

"That's why I'm getting it." I told Ronnie, and he grabbed my free hand.

"Good."

My tattoos were done.

"Thanks so much, Sam." I smiled, and Dean coughed.

"You too, Dean." I rolled my eyes, and Dean chuckled obnoxiously.

"Hehe, don't mention it."

"Okay, how much was it?"

I paid for my tattoos, which were surprisingly inexpensive, and Ronnie and I walked out. The sun was going down.

"Thanks so much for taking me here." I grinned, and Ronnie smiled back. "No problem."

We got back to the hotel within ten minutes.

"So, we leave tomorrow. What's the next stop?" Ronnie asked, and I shrugged.

"We should go for a while in case authorities try to go after us. They can only go a certain distance away from their base."

"True. So what about D.C.?" Ronnie asked me, and I nodded. "Sure! I've always wanted to go there."

"So we'll leave around nine so we have plenty of time to drive. We can stop for gas in the morning so we don't have to stop many more times on the road." Ronnie said.

"Okay, cool."

We ordered in Chinese and sat on our beds watching Mean Girls.

The movie ended, and Ronnie was looking at the screen, dumbfounded.

"So they just... And the Indian guy and... But I thought she was lesbian?... But why did she and Damien take Cady back after everything that... But the little girls got hit by the... But then they didn't and..."

I laughed, and Ronnie frowned at me.

"Fuck you."

I flipped Ronnie off.

"You know what this calls for, right?" he raised a mischievous eyebrow, and I shook my head.

"What?"

"A PILLOW FIGHT!" Ronnie laughed, grabbing his pillow and hitting me with it on my side.

"NOOOO!" I went along with it, grabbing my pillow and hitting him across the face with it.

"Oh, it's on." Ronnie laughed, and we began to smack each other back and forth with our pillows.

This resulted with Ronnie straddling me on top of his bed, leaning over me, pillow on the side of my head.

I realized what position we were in, but I didn't want to say anything.

I looked up and saw Ronnie leaning in until--

We heard a knock on the door.

"Room service! Some clients complained of excessive noise. Please keep it down!"

"Sorry, ma'am!" Ronnie called, getting off of me.

I exhaled my breath I realized I had been holding in for god knows how long.

I got up from his bed and collapsed onto mine, exhausted.

"Goodnight, Jess." I heard Ronnie whisper before I felt a pair of lips kiss my forehead.

I heard the light switch off and the rustling of covers, and barely a few minutes later, the soft sound of snoring.


	3. Washington, D.C.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DONT JUDGE I USED TO LIKE SOCIAL REPOSE OK

I felt Ronnie shake me awake.

"Good morning!" he grinned at me, and I noticed he was already dressed and ready to go on the road.

"Ugh, do we have to go?" I groaned, and Ronnie picked me up out of my bed and set me on my feet.

"It's 8:30 now, you have half an hour until we check out and go." he said confidently, and I shook my head before getting a Black Veil Brides tee and some black skinnies.

I got ready and packed my stuff up and followed Ronnie out the door.

We checked out within five minutes and went to Ronnie's car.

We drove down the road to the nearest gas station, of which Ronnie filled up with his money.

I had payed for the hotel stay so it was only fair for him to do gas.

"So what station do you want? Or do you want to plug in your phone?" Ronnie asked me, and I whipped my phone out f my backpack, plugging in the AUX cord.

I put on the Andy Black album and Stay Alive came on.

"Yes I fucking love this song!!" Ronnie exclaimed, turning the volume and started singing along.

"Your thoughts become your enemies  
When you're locked inside this cage  
Life can feel dead to me  
And all that's left is rage  
Regrets for all the time we wasted  
Thinking of ourselves  
Holding onto pain you tasted  
Living in this hell

Don't wanna go back home tonight  
So I drive this road alone."

I admired the clarity in Ronnie's voice. I didn't know he could sing that well. I joined him in the chorus.

"Stay alive for the good times  
Stay alive through the bad  
Stay alive for the hopes and the fears and the dreams  
The best that we ever had  
I keep telling myself I can take you  
From this God-forsaken place  
Stay alive for the good times  
Stay alive through the bad."

I sang the "oh oh ooh woah"'s extra loudly and Ronnie laughed at me.

"Stay alive" Ronnie sang.

"OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAHHHHH"

I decided to sing the next verse.

"Your fear controls everything  
Never let you turn the page  
We end up only settling  
For when we both felt sane  
Reaching out for something that  
You can't quite hold onto  
Say goodbye and start it over  
When there's nothing left for you

Don't wanna go back home tonight  
So I drive this road alone"

Ronnie's eyes were wide, but we continued singing through the rest of the song.

"Stay alive for the good times  
Stay alive through the bad  
Stay alive for the hopes and the fears and the dreams  
The best that we ever had  
I keep telling myself I can take you  
From this God-forsaken place  
Stay alive for the good times  
Stay alive through the bad

...

I keep telling myself I can take you  
From this God-forsaken place  
Stay alive for the good times  
Stay alive through the bad  
Stay alive for the hopes and the fears and the dreams  
The best that we ever had  
I keep telling myself I can take you  
From this God-forsaken place  
Stay alive for the good times  
Stay alive through the bad

OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAHHHHHH

Stay alive

OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAHHHHHH

Stay alive

OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAH OH OH OOH WOAHHHHHH

Stay alive."

Ronnie looked at me, while trying to focus on the road.

Was I that awful?

"That was fucking AMAZING. You have the most beautiful voice ever." Ronnie gawked at me, and I laughed.

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

We traveled for about four more hours until we arrived in Washington, D.C..

We conveniently got there around 1pm so we stopped for lunch at Chipotle.

We walked in, and I gasped at my surprise, to see a guy with a familiar black and purple headdress on line.

"Richie?" I called out, and the guy turned around.

"Who's that?" Ronnie whispered to me.

"It's Social Repose, one of my favorite YouTubers." I whispered back.

Ronnie and I approached Richie, and he smiled genuinely at me.

"Hey!" he smiled, and I grinned.

"I'm such a huge fan..." I said, and Richie laughed.

"Thanks! So do you live around here, or..."

"I lived in New York, but I ran away from my family and met Ronnie here--" I gestured to Ronnie next to me, "and I'm going to Louisiana. Where are you going, Ronnie?"

"Nevada. I want to produce music and I know a few people there that want to get to know me and possibly sign me. So yeah." Ronnie shrugged.

"That's awesome! So you guys are just on the road?" Richie assumed, and I nodded.

"That's so cool! I wish I could go on a road trip. But I have to stay here and make YouTube videos for a living. So yeah. I have to go, my girlfriend is waiting for me outside, but hopefully we can stay in touch! What's your name again?"

"I never told you." I laughed, and Richie face palmed.

"It's Jess." I said, and Richie nodded.

"Nice to meet you! What's your Twitter?"

"jessvanderbil1." I said, and Richie typed it in.

My phone vibrated with a notification that said "SocialRepose followed you!"

"Holy fuck, thank you." I grinned widely, and Richie chuckled a quick "no problem." before moving up on line to make his order.

I grinned at Ronnie and he gave me a thumbs up before we went up to make our orders.

Before we knew it, I had finished my burrito and Ronnie had finished his bowl of cheese and we were checking into a hotel.

"I'm pooped from driving. Can we just not do anything today?" Ronnie asked me, flopping down on... Our queen sized bed?

"Um, I'll be right back." I said, and ran out to the reception desk.

"How can I help you?" the man behind the counter drawled. He was obviously bored with his job.

"Uh, our room... We asked for two single beds and you gave us a room with a queen. By any chance can--"

"Sorry, miss, there are no more rooms available with two single beds." the man said in monotone.

"Okay." I said, turning on my heel and walking back to the room.

"So what's the deal with the queen?" Ronnie asked with a raised eyebrow as I walked through the door.

"I was thinking the same thing. I asked the guy about it, and he told me there were no more rooms with single beds." I rolled my eyes.

"Well, looks like you're sleeping with me tonight." Ronnie smirked, and I fake gagged.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't do anything." he said, walking over to his bag and pulling out a box of cigarettes.

"Want one?" he asked.

I shrugged. Why not rebel against all of the rules my mom set in place?

"Sure." I accepted one.

"It looks like you're a first timer, so first you put it in between your--"

"I know that, Ronnie. I'm not stupid."

"Shush, let me finish. Then you light it. Now, don't give the cig a blowjob, just give it a head. And then you inhale slowly, not all at once." Ronnie said, and my eyes went wide.

"What the actual fuck...?"

"Okay, let me teach you how to do it physically." Ronnie smirked, and I coughed.

"Your sexual references are making me sick."

"Serves you right. Payback for making me drive!"

"You suck."

"I'd rather not suck, I'm straight."

"RONNIE!"

"Okay, okay!"

Ronnie lit my cigarette for me, and did his own before I put my lips to the stick and inhaled slowly, just as Ronnie said.

I felt the smoke invade my lungs.

I exhaled through my mouth, and Ronnie began clapping.

"Thank you, thank you." I joked, bowing as Ronnie whistled, fake crying while saying "That was so... So beautiful."

We spent the next half hour talking about our futures. It turned out that Ronnie wanted to form a band and drop a mixtape and become famous.

"I'm definitely buying your records." I smiled, and Ronnie hugged me.

"You just made my day."

"I'm glad."

"So about doing something today..."

"Yeah?"

"What if we got more tattoos?"

"Dude. I just got three yesterday."

"Didn't you say you were planning to get a sleeve?"

"When I'm not BROKE, yeah!"

"Then I'm getting them for you."

And with that, Ronnie tore me out of the hotel room and to a nearby tattoo parlor, in which he made me get a tattoo of his handwriting saying "Ronnie was here" on my ankle.

That was the weirdest experience I ever had.

We went back to the hotel, and it was around 8pm.

"We should get to bed early, because I'm planning to make it to Lake Charles within fourteen hours. We can drive all day and we should get there by 9pm if we leave at 7am." Ronnie suggested, and I nodded.

We both got ready and he hopped onto... Our bed.

"I call the left side."

"Okay, cool." I agreed.

Ronnie went under the covers and I joined him.

"Nighty night, Jess." Ronnie smiled, and turned off the light.

"Night, Ronnie."

I couldn't sleep that night.

I kept on having nightmares of my mom finding me.

Around 2am, I woke up, screaming.

"Jess! Jess, it's okay, I'm here." I heard Ronnie wake up out of his deep sleep, wrapping his arms around me.

"I'm here. I'm always here for you. I won't let your mom get to you." he whispered into my ear.

I clutched his shirt in my fists as I fell back asleep, undoubtedly staying asleep for the rest of the long night.


	4. Lake Charles, Louisiana

We were on the road the next morning before we could even get any words out of our mouths.

Both of us were exhausted from all the traveling.

Ronnie had woken me up and wordlessly handed me a pop tart before motioning for me to get ready.

We sat in the car in silence. We couldn't turn on any music because noise was a disturbance at 8am.

Finally, about an hour later, we started talking. Well, Ronnie started talking.

"So... what was your mom like?" he asked.

"Well, she picked me out. I was adopted from Russia when I was seven months old, and my biological mother abandoned me after my biological father died in a motorcycle crash.

My parents couldn't have kids, so they adopted me.

They raised me in a Christian environment, and I was okay until I was introduced to alternative music by my friend at school. Around that same time, my biological mother got in contact with me, and I was emotionally scarred.

I then started to inflict physical scars upon myself to show my emotional pain. My mom found out and sent me to therapy, which fucked me up to the point that I attempted suicide.

I was put in a mental ward of the local hospital and stayed there for a week. I was the taken away from everything I loved. I lost friends, my family despised me, and had nothing left.

I met my friend Lauren through Instagram after I created my band account, and we became really good friends.

She was supposed to come up to New York when I was fourteen during December break, but she couldn't afford it. So we made plans for me to run away and she already decorated my room and stuff.

But back to my mom.

She treated me pretty well, but she thought God could get me out of every bad situation. She relied on the Bible for everything. Same with my dad.

They would always drag me to church, especially when I played my music out loud. They assumed that my music was evil, so they had meetings with the pastors so they could pray for me.

Apparently I was a "very lost little girl," so they gave up on me.

I stopped going to church.

My parents began verbally abusing me.

My mom tried sending me to therapy again, and it fucked me up to the point that I attempted suicide again.

I almost succeeded, but my friend Gerard called the police, and they ended up at my house.

Gerard saved my life, and I'm thanking him for that.

But right after that, my parents continued to abuse me until now.

Now I'm here."

Ronnie's eyes were wide as he looked at the road.

"I'm so sorry." Ronnie sympathized.

"Nah, it's okay. Don't pity me. Please."

"Okay. But, like, I know your pain. Like you know, my mom left me when I was little."

"How did that happen?"

"Well," Ronnie started, "My parents loved each other. They really did.

They had my brother, Anthony, then they had me.

When I was around three, my mom left us for unknown reasons. I guess she did't love any of us anymore.

My grandma moved in, but she didn't do much. She had dementia and died.

My dad started drinking and doing drugs, and Anthony raised me for the rest of my teenage years. I will be forever thankful for my brother keeping me sane.

Now I'm here."

"Wow." was all I could say.

"Yeah." Ronnie replied.

We sat in another hour of silence.

At some point, I fell asleep, but I woke up when it was getting dark out.

"It's 8:30pm. We're going to get there within ten minutes." Ronnie stated nonchalantly, and I closed my eyes for the last ten minutes I had with my friend.

I felt the car stop, and my eyes jerked open.

"We're here. I can help you get your bags inside, but then I have to go find a hotel so I can get going to Nevada." Ronnie said, hopping out of the car and taking my suitcase for me.

I looked up and realized we were in the driveway of my internet friend.

I jumped out of the car to see Lauren standing in the doorway of her house.

"Oh my dear lord." I breathed, and Lauren and I ran to each other, falling over the ground.

"Oh my God, Jess, it's actually you!" Lauren exclaimed, hugging me even harder than before, which I didn't believe was physically possible.

We finally let go of each other.

I turned to face Ronnie.

The guy who drove with me all the way to Louisiana to help me and make my life better.

It would be hard to let go.

"I should get going now." he said quietly, and my eyes teared up. I couldn't even think about life without hearing his voice.

I'd only known him for four days, but I felt as if I'd known him for four years.

I couldn't help myself. I ran up to him and practically jumped on him, engulfing him in a huge hug, of which Ronnie accepted with his own embrace.

I breathed in his smell of cigarettes and jolly ranchers that I had grown accustomed to, and he held my head close, playing with my hair.

We parted, and he put me down. We stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, until he began to lean in.

I closed the gap as our lips collided, and I felt as if we were meant to be together.

His hand snaked around my waist, pulling me closer.

I heard a cough behind us, and Ronnie and I broke apart.

"Okay, lovebirds, if y'all wanna have sex, do it somewhere that isn't in the middle of my driveway. Jess, I'm bringing in your bags for you. Y'all do your thing."

Lauren retreated into her house, and my focus returned to Ronnie.

He smiled at me, and I smiled back as he pressed his lips against mine once again, my heart thumping as our lips moved against one another's, and eventually our tongues getting involved in the beautiful mix called love.

And I never wanted it to end, honestly.


End file.
